


Of Visions and of Waves

by Supella_Remains



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Demigods, Everyone hates Myths, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fáil Inis, How Do I Tag, I Was Talking About This Months Ago But Y'know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Its really late so I'm lowkey dying, Kumiho, Let Me Be Honest There's Myth's in Here From Just About Everywhere, M/M, Manaia, Maybe it should just be like a reincarnation au to explain it away?, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology - Freeform, Same Universe as my Enchanted AU just a different location basically, Slow To Update, Slow Updates Probably Because This Took A While To Make Sure I was Happy With This, made up world, maybe eventual smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 13:39:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14521761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Supella_Remains/pseuds/Supella_Remains
Summary: In a country called Diorsia, Myths are outcast from the community in fact if a Myth is discovered the people may go as far as public execution. So when a perfectly normal boy named Lance has to get involved with assisting a Myth to find his missing brother and it's revealed his friends are also Myths— it's safe to say his life is heading for a rough patch.





	Of Visions and of Waves

**Author's Note:**

> Every Quest has a Beginning...Some are Worse than Others.

Once upon a time in a far, far away world, there was a great land called Diorsia: a beautiful country stretching from the Crystal Sea and through the woods of Marrow. The country was ruled by a kind and caring family, the Altea Dynasty who had ruled since the country’s very founding. Diorsia was a fairly peaceful country, the best country for Man to live in at that...just that wasn’t the case for Myths. You see that’s what Man claimed kept Diorsia so peaceful: the lack of supernatural entities running around and the magical wall separating the two worlds from each other. One side of the wall was Diorsia, peaceful and beautiful— a land of light and energy and Lambent forbid hope: the other was Biorsia, the land of the Myths. It was crowded, dark, and merciless— just as the Myths all were. One side mortal, one side the unexplainable. And both dynasties were perfectly fine with never interacting with the other country on the island. 

Then, one day, there was a perfectly normal boy named Lance McClain who lived in the land of Diorsia, in the village of Varadero right next to the coves that have given the Crystal Sea its name. Now Lance was, as stated, perfectly normal. He was a good looking man. He was the youngest in a family of no less than seven if you were to include himself and his grandmother (as you should.) Lance had grown up in a loving family, experienced young love and heartbreak, and throughout the course of high school had come to terms with his own self more than he could of imagined. Lance had honestly had one of the most normal upbringings possible for him. He had cried for Rosa, his mother, the first day of preschool when she had to go to work (and every first day of school since.) He cooked supper with his father every night after sitting through all of his elder sister’s troubles with her best friend’s boyfriend. He spent the nights partying or play wrestling with his elder brothers. Finally, every Sixth-Day Lance would walk his grandmother and his mother to the cove as usual. Yes, Lance was absolutely normal in most every way. And now as to continue that path to complete normality, Lance was doing what everyone his boy age is supposed to: he was joining the garrison along the Southern half of the wall. 

Now in all truth, Lance didn’t want to go. Lance wanted to stay at home in Varadero, he wanted to stay with his family. He wanted to talk about boys with Veronica and her unhealthy crush on Jason, to talk about girls with Luis, and go surfing with Marco. He wanted to learn more about his heritage from his mother and his grandmother. He wanted to teach his father about the aspects of his life, he still had a bit of trouble fully understanding that Lance was attracted to both boys and girls but he was getting the hang of it. Slowly, but surely. He didn’t want to go defend the giant ass stone wall in the middle of nowhere from a threat that didn’t even exist. Lance wasn’t made for military school! Sure, he didn’t know what exactly he wanted to do with his life yet but he knew for sure he didn’t want to be some number in the Garrison sector of their military! But in order for his family to maintain normalcy, he had to go. 

And so he did. Lance had packed his bags and moved into the dorm building named the Paladin's Quarters in the fall of 205x. The first year at school started off almost entirely fine, except his roommate had at least twenty different kinds of major malfunctions. His roommate was the one, the only Keith Kogane. The top of the class and teachers pet of the year had been Lance’s roommate. He constantly acted like he was better than Lance, not bothering to even say hi to Lance when he came parading in half past midnight. He purposely tried to one-up Lance in everything! On tests he’d get a 93% and Keith would get a 110%, Keith would make snide remarks about how Lance’s stance was off every other day in training, and not to mention when Lance got lucky— Keith would purposefully walk in grab his pillows and his blanket and throw the smaller pillow at Lance and his lover of the night. Not only all that, but this kid had the gall to be hotter than Lance! Everything about Keith was just infuriating to Lance, absolutely everything. Lance hated his rival with all his heart, up until the week before he was kicked out. Even though he hated Keith, even he had enough mercy to see the normally stoic teen was having a really rough day. 

It all started around the Changing Time, right when dark red leaves began to wither away into a dead brown. A pale boy scarred and burned by magic in some areas had just shown up, claiming to be a soldier who had been scouting. He was screaming and crying for help. “The Myths! They ambushed us!” He had called out to the crowd now surrounding him. “I’m Vince, Vince Daniels! I’m the Yellow Paladin for the Kerberos mission!” Then all the chattering in the courtyard stopped as everyone looked at the broken boy in shock. Gathering around him in a hurry, Keith immediately pushes through the crowd and gets down to the man’s level. Lance blinks in surprise to see the other acting like this, Keith was a loner, always stoic and never phased by those around him: but now the normally stoic man was pale and he was trying to contain what looked like panic in his eyes. 

“First off, calm down. You’re over the wall, you’re at the Garrison. You’re safe, I want you to try and focus on my breathing and match it. Just focus on that and nothing else until you can breathe properly.” He looks into the scouts eyes—his voice comes out calm and remarkably steady. He then looks about the crowd continuing to gather until his eyes land on someone else. “You, the Yellow in the back!” Keith calls out over the crowd. A familiar face looks at Keith in shock and points to himself. Hunk Garrett, Lance’s study partner and best friend, seems to be utterly confused at what’s going on. “Yes, you! Go get Iverson, quick okay? Tell him it’s code 11037. Now this crowd needs to disperse now, let him breathe,” he orders out. The Yellow Paladin takes off to do as said and most of the large group surrounding the man and Keith fall back at least by a couple feet. Lance can’t hear what they’re saying anymore, but Keith is working on calming down Vince. He’s asking questions and getting calm answers by the time Commander Iverson gets there. The Commander gently pats Keith on the back and then sent the entire group to an early lights out. He keeps Keith for a few moments longer, pulling the Red Paladin along as they drag Vince to the infirmary to be checked up on. 

Keith returns late of the night. His eyes seem to be red from crying. “Woah, what happened?” Lance heard himself ask before he even knew the question was on the tip of his tongue. 

“Nothing...just, will you please keep it down for a while?” His voice was quiet and free of that normal monotone sound. “I need to think.” He sounded like he was choking on his words. Lance nods slowly, turning around slowly. 

Keith didn’t leave the dorm room for a days after that. He wouldn’t talk to anyone and if somebody spoke to him, Keith made it a point to growl like an animal in response. One that could literally put the fear of Lambent into you. His eyes were bloodshot and Lance was sure the only time Keith was eating was when he, personally, brought an extra tray and left it on the others bedside table. After about three more days had passed, this behavior was replaced with unrelenting anger. If you said one word to him you’d likely find a fist in your mouth before you even got out the name “Keith.” However, unlike the growling, it was aimed at the teachers rather than the students. Then before you know it Keith had deserted and Iverson was missing an eye. No one knows how exactly Iverson lost it as he lies every time (from saying it was a lion, a myth, or anything more badass than it probably was.)

At least Keith’s departure let Lance’s life ease up a bit. No longer did he have to worry about being second best to Keith Kogane, having finally moved up in rank to a Red Paladin. Hell he even got to room with his best friend Hunk, then a year later the green member of their team moved into the dorm next door. Between Lance, Hunk, and the new boy Pidge— things at the garrison couldn’t get better. They were just a normal group of friends, being badass in simulations and pulling hijinks throughout the castle, throwing parties and never getting caught. This couldn’t get any better. At least, that’s what Lance had thought that. 

He had thought that until he had managed to smuggle in a pet. And not just any pet, a pet that soiled his perfectly normal reputation. It was the second semester of his sophomore year when he caught it lurking around the grounds of the Garrison. The poor thing looked starved beyond saving, but Lance wasn’t one to give up when it came to saving the life of something as precious as this cute, red fox. So Lance did what any rational teenage boy would do: when the fox got close enough, he scooped it up into his arms. And that ended in at least twenty bite marks along arms as the poor thing freaked out. Lance really hoped this sweet baby didn’t have rabies. But once he got the small fox to calm itself down, he snuck it into his room. He put this wily little fox in his uniform shirt in order to get it into the dorm building. It didn’t freak out as much there.

Lance let him lose in his room as soon as the door was closed, and the fox immediately jumped up on Lance’s bed. It eyes him in curiosity, tilting its head. “So do you have a name, little guy?” The fox just lays down at that. “I’m gonna call you Red, okay? Now let’s get Hunk to bring us up some food.” He smiles petting the small fox on the head. From then on a bond was formed between the two, Lance loved and took care of Red. And Red was just the stress relief Lance had needed. He vent to this small red fox and tell it of his homesickness and of his insecurities, and the fox would cuddle up to him whenever he felt like Lance needed it. Red had also become his party buddy, crowds loving the shy Red. Red however didn’t enjoy the crowds quite as much— he preferred to lay across Lance shoulder instead. 

Life was good until the Spring tide of that year. It started early in the morning, when Lance found he was alone in his bed. He hadn’t had anyone over in quite sometime because it made Red uncomfortable apparently, but he had grown used to the fox sleeping on the pillow beside him. But now Red is gone. Lance blinks awake as he hears something clambering through the vent. Then he sees the bright flash of fur moving from above on the high wooden shelf, knocking over a small plastic bottle. Okay now Lance is curious as Red crawls out of the vent. He quickly faked being asleep when the fox goes to leap up onto the bed. Now Lance has a plan. He’s going to figure out where his little buddy has been running off to of the night. Lance goes to Pidge the next day, praying that him and Hunk would help him out. Of course as good teammates and as good friends who care about Red as well, they agree to help. Hunk taking out some new technology he and Pidge had been experimenting with, he had called a moving picture— something that could track where the little guy if they were to hide it on him properly. “So how does that tell us where he goes?” Lance asked curiously as Hunk took out some old fabric, a brilliant scarlet color to it as he folded it over to make it just a tad thicker. Hunk took a needle threading it through the fabric.

“Well we’re going to put this collar I’m making on her— “ Hunk starts to explain.

“Red is a he,” Lance automatically interjects causing Pidge to groan out.

“Lance, I have told you five million times. Red is a vixen, that means Red is female,” He groans, looking at the boy from Varadero as he attaches the machine to a plastic surface, making sure it could easily latch it onto the other half of the surface. She then tosses the plastic to Hunk who sews it onto the fabric.

“I really don’t care what you say, Pidgitron. I still think Red is a boy.”

That may or may not have been what got him here, tracking a fox got him held at the end of a sword. Two swords. The two paladins, one Red and one Black, glare down at all three of them. “Akira, get the box,” Vince says sighing. “What are you three doing out?”

“Oh you know us,” Lance says smugly. “A little late night snack is all.”

“You three know better,” Vince frowns deeply. 

“But Vince, my man! You can let us go and I swear we will go right back to our dorms.”

“No.”

“Vince! Baby—!”

“No, Lance. I have something else to do now,” He growled out as Akira hands him a familiar dark pink box. That shut Lance up as he eyed the other, wondering if he was even remotely serious about this. If he was, Lance was screwed. “On your knees, kiddos.” They all instantly obey. “Do you know what this stuff is?” The taller, Black Paladin asked opening up a case from the inside of his pack. Pidge gasped quietly, as she watched the man open the box. “Ambrosia, isn’t that right? That’s what the Myths call it at least.”

“It glows on a Myths skin,” Hunk says quietly. 

“The food of immortality: it’s basically a drug,” Pidge adds, looking the soldier up and down. “It’s highly addictive to Myths, but what’s it gotta do with us?”

“Seriously Vince, I knew you were paranoid but quiznack,” Hunk says. “You haven’t been the same since Kerberos but you’re just being borderline insane now. We’re human. There’s no need to test us.”

“As if, after we caught one of them in there we can’t take chances anymore,” he growls. Lance could feel his anxiety rising as the two paladins came closer with the ambrosia powder. Oh Lambent, he was this close to getting found out. Just roughly thirty more seconds and that dust would be shining brighter than the moon on his birthday. 

“Shit.” A familiar voice says from behind the scene. The three students and their soldiers whip their heads around to face the newcomer to this situation, none as fast as Lance though when he immediately recognizes the voice. His eyes go wide when he’s greeted by a boy not much younger than himself with a choppy, black mullet: he had a dark red collar around his neck— which that was the only color on him as the rest of him was decked out nearly completely in form fitting, tight black. Lance recognized those unmoving lavender eyes, the pale skin and those scattered freckles about his face, and those all too full lips. 

Yep, there was no denying it. He and his friends were face to face with the deserter: the unfairly attractive— “Keith!” Lance’s voice called out upon seeing him. 

“It’s the Myth!” Vince yells, which gets an eye roll from Keith. And all three of the paladins on their knees look to each other with realization. Keith was a myth…Color Lance stunned—apparently his rival who excelled in the Garrison was a Myth as well. Keith rolls his eyes as the other Red Paladin, Akira, charges at him with a long sword. Within seconds the paladin is unarmed and in a headlock, Keith says something causing the paladin to pale and break free calling for backup. Keith takes the blade the younger dropped as he ran off and starts to walk in between the trio. “Don’t...don’t come any closer!”

“You’re Vince? Well I guess it makes sense, you’re as much of a coward as I remember.” Keith says as he approached, dragging the end of the sword along the floor until he passed the trio. Then he picks it up and examines the sharpness of the blade. “Wanna give me one good reason not to take that weak heart of yours? Or should I take your liver instead? I haven’t had meat in about a year thanks to you getting me kicked out. Maybe you ought to make up for it.” Fangs revealed themselves as he snarled and pressed the sword up to Vince’s throat as he closed in. Lance could see his Adam’s apple bob with the gulp he took before Vince visibly panicked, throwing the ambrosia into the shorter of the two’s face. Keith quickly drops the sword, coughing as ambrosia settles on his on his tongue: he attempts to spit the light powder out before the addictive qualities sat in. Soon Keith began to glow with the dust now surrounding the trio. “We have to get out of here. Follow me.” He says with that authoritative voice he always used with subordinates— once he’s gained his voice back from his coughing fit that is. 

“What in the quiznack?!” Lance yells as he follows them down the hall.

“You’re a Myth?” Hunk asked as he checked over his shoulder for the third time to see if the other advanced level paladins were still following them. They definitely still were. 

“This is way too impossible to be real.”

“Hey guys! Less talking, more running!” Pidge yells.

“This way!” Keith exclaims, pulling himself to a stop, grabbing a handle to a door and motioning the other three inside. Each of them quickly run in, one after the other into a dark room that smelled of bleach. 

“Uh...this is a supply closet.”

“Yep, we are doomed. Totally and completely doomed,” Hunk panics. 

“Shut up, please shut up,” Keith growls. “I can get us out of here, I just need to focus. Big guy, block the door.” Hunk gulps and nods. 

Footsteps approach fast, there’s gotta be twenty men at least in the first row of soldiers. The only noise is coming from the soldiers heckling them outside. Keith put a hand to his upper chest, trying to zone them out. Trying to zone out the stomping and the mocking, the promises of burning or drowning. He had to focus on that cool feeling emerging from his pale skin, becoming ever aware of the wound he’d have to clean later. Lance watched as a jade stone emerged with a light blue glow from Keith’s chest, Keith’s face contorting in pain so deep Lance could feel it from where he stood. The blue light filled the room to astonish the other three who watch with wide eyes. Soon the light becomes so bright, you have to close your eyes or risk going blind. Then, just as quickly as it came, the light faded and they were no longer in a supply closet. They were instead in a dusty living room, filled to the brim with books and notes. Cracks draping wooden walls and chipped paint elsewhere. A beige dusty couch being the only furniture actually in the room. Keith pants softly as he sits down on his couch. “Lambent,” he mutters to himself as he quietly curses. He’s paler than usual, and then it seems like the black haired boy can only barely maintain a human form as his eyes shift to unnatural black color. “I forgot how much energy that takes,” he mumbles as he sat down on a small broken couch, careful in the way he sat. As if he might hurt something otherwise. “Now I’ve gotta restart the hundred days.” The trio just stare at the former paladin, astonished. “What?”

“Where the quiznack are we?” Pidge asked incredulously, voice going impossibly high for that moment.

“Yeah, uh I think that’s a good place to start,” Hunk nods in agreement.

“My house,” Keith answered simply. “Or I guess more specifically, the Northern woods of Marrow. Make yourselves comfortable, it’s too late in the night to leave. Too many bears around this area.”

“Bears?!” Hunk asked nervously.

“Yeah, but don’t worry big guy, you’re inside. Besides I go outside and guard at night.”

“So who in all of Marih are you?” Pidge finally asked confused as hell. 

“He’s Keith,” Lance spits out. “Y’know, my asshole roommate who dropped out.” 

“Not exactly what happened, but good to know you remember me because I really don’t know you.” At this Lance nearly squealed at that because how in the hell did this asshole who was constantly trying to show him up, not remember him?!

“You know me! Lance and Keith! Neck and neck!”

“Nope, not at all.” Keith shakes his head. “What about you, big guy?”

“I’m Hunk Garrett,” Hunk extends his hand to Keith, smiling softly. “Nice to meet another half-blood, and I’m sorry about Lance.”

“Wait?! You’re a—!” Lance and Pidge start to interrupt. 

“No worries,” Keith smirks slightly. “So what exactly are you?”

“A Manaia,” Hunk smiles widely to him. Keith nods slightly, seeming impressed by what Hunk had said. Lance had no idea what Hunk claimed he was, but he couldn’t help but feel betrayed by his friend. Why hadn’t he trusted Lance with this?! Well Lance supposed that he hadn’t exactly trusted him either. So maybe Hunk wasn’t really to blame…

“That’s really amazing,” Keith says kindly. “I’ve never met a Manaia before. I’d like to ask you a few questions sometime if that’s alright.” 

“That’s fine by me,” Hunk grins— he seemed happy someone was interested in his lore. 

Keith then turns to Pidge, but he stops and looks over him for a moment. “Oh that’s why you look so familiar,” Keith finally says, facepalming. “You’re Katie!” Now it was Hunk’s turn to take part of the shock with Lance.

“How did you know that?” Pidge cocked an eyebrow at him, taking a step back. 

“I know Matt, he was on the Kerberos mission with my brother—”

“Your brother was in Kerberos too?!” Pidge squeaked causing Keith’s to flinch slightly. He smiled softly to her once she had settled back down. 

“Yeah, I was supposed to go with them but Iverson said I was too young.” Keith explains. “They were my team.”

“You were on a team with Matt?”

“Yep, best Fáil Inis I’ve ever met. I would say the only one, but if I remember correctly he liked to brag about how great and powerful Katie Holt was.” At this Pidge turned a dark red and smiled softly to him.

“Okay wait wait and wait.” Lance finally interrupts, “First off: Pidge, you’re a girl?” Pidge nods slowly and mouths ‘I’ll explain later’ to Hunk and Lance. “And so what, everyone is Myth and didn’t tell me?” Lance pouts, slightly only to have Keith cock an eyebrow.

“Lance,” Hunk frowns, taking a more sympathetic tone. “You don’t know—”

“No, no I get it. You couldn’t trust your old buddy Lance with a secret. I get it, I get it,” He pouts. “All is forgiven.” He mutters before Hunk breaks down and hugs him...Lance would probably feel guilty about this later judging by the look Keith was giving him (if that glare was anything to tell from) but for now he was just a bit too petty to care. 

“Anyways,” Pidge finally speaks up. “If you and your brother were on a team with Matt— that makes you… you’re Shiro’s little brother?” Lance’s jaw drops to the floor once more as Keith nods. 

“You’re the Takashi Shirogane’s brother?” Lance asked astounded. “That guy is like my hero!”

“Mine too,” Keith smiles softly to him, in a sad sort of way. 

“So wait, what Myth are you exactly?” Hunk asked. “Wasn’t Shiro human?”

“Well we’re half brothers in all technicality,” Keith explains, scratching the back of his neck. “But even so, we’re both dead Myths. We’re—...”

“But wait— to be a dead myth you’d…” Hunk says before falling silent. Keith nods again as Lance is lost without someone filling in the gap for him. 

“Dead Myth?” He finally blurts out without thinking to much of it. 

“It means,” Pidge sighs, elbowing the taller for his lack of tact. “That his Myth is going extinct. He’s one of the last handful left.”

“Five exactly, at least it was the last time I had contact with anyone back in Biorsia. There are currently five kumiho alive: two being myself and my brother,” Keith states. Pidge and Hunk exchange a glance of awe. 

“You’re a kumiho?” Pidge gasps. 

“Oh my Lambent!” Hunk says looking at him in awe and shock. “Can we see your fox form?”

“Yep, I am. And not right now— I’m too wiped to change,” Keith answers easily. Lance’s brow furrows in annoyance, not understanding exactly what was going on here.“But you have seen my fox form in a sense. After all you did take care of me for this entire year. So thank you Lance and Hunk for that.”

“Woah, woah. You were Red?” Lance yips, having to contain his squeal yet again.

“Yes.”

“Dude, you slept in our beds!”

“I did, but I was a fox. Most of the time when I actually was with you all, I was too exhausted to even be called in my right mind after I went out investigating. Magic absorbs a lot of your energy, and I used a lot of it to stay in my fox form most of the time.”

“That’s still not right! I mean, why would you—?”

“I had to find information for what I’m having to do next. I need to find my brother. However, I’d rather not talk right now— I am really, really having to conserve my power for now. I think you all ought to get to bed. We’ll have to leave early in the morning.” Lance is very, very bothered by how Keith cuts him off. After all the excitement fell from the air of the others, Hunk and Pidge eventually took Keith’s advice and made their way into a makeshift bed on the floor after discovering Keith only had a couch to sleep in. Keith had went outside, leaving the tanner inside. He tried to sleep with the others, that should go on record but he had this sinking feeling in his gut that he shouldn’t leave Keith alone. He probably shouldn’t trust him. He probably really shouldn't. And before Lance knew it, he was off the couch and leaving the old dusty thing. Every spring and contraption creak the couch made, Lance cringed at— prating he didn’t awake his other friends. Thankfully the floorboards should be quieter than this. Or at least he thought they should be. No matter how quiet he attempted to be, the floor creaked beneath him— popping and the splintering wood almost giving in in some places. Finally Lance could take in just how broken down the old shack was as he managed to slide past the door that had been broken off its hinges. The whiplash from being inside Keith’s dusty old shack in the dim of night and being out in his front yard was astonishing.The front yard was filled with various vegetables that had become severely overgrown, running rampant along with the flowers littered around the wooded yard and lit with a mysterious dust falling from flowers that hung over nearby trees. Since when was Keith delicate enough to even raise crops and flowers? Lance always took him for a meat and more meat kinda guy— to find out this brute brought up his own food was really shocking to find out he did so all in the middle of nowhere. Lance took a deep breath, trying to take it all in as he made his way to a wooden fence that had obviously been built just high enough to hide the boy’s home. 

Keith was perched up on the fence, watching the land with almost yellowish eyes. The moonlight making his skin look a light blue as he stared off into the horizon line. Lance tries to approach as quietly as possible knowing when Keith was hyper-focusing, it could be pretty easy to spook him. Then as luck would have it, he stepped on a twig and Keith whipped his head around to look at what happened behind him before he quickly turns back to the horizon watching it. “What are you doing up? I left you three in there two hours ago.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Lance shrugs, leaning against the wooden fence. Things stay like this, stay quiet for a moment or two (maybe five minutes as a whole.) His eyes going from tracing his surroundings to tracing the patterns of light shadowing Keith’s face.

“I need your help,” Keith says not dropping his gaze from the horizon line. His focus seemed to be fully on protecting the others for the moment, including the two now sleeping inside. “I have to find my brother. If King Zarkon of Biorsia gets his hands on him, we’ll all be doomed.”

“Why should we help you?” Lance frowns looking over the boy as he spoke. Watching the tense way the boy with fox ears scrunched up and kept one of his many tails in his lap. “You abducted us, you’ve been tricking us for over a year, who knows if you’re lying about this as well.” Keith sighs softly, shaking his head. 

“I know, I know. But I can pay you back, as much as I can at least. A kumiho can give powers that a mortal mind can only imagine, especially one with my heritage, I can’t explain. But I can make your assistance worth your while.”

“How?”

“Pidge’s brother and father were with Shiro when he disappeared. I can get them back for her, get you and Hunk back just as easy without having to report you to the Garrison.” Keith offers as he finally looks back towards Lance, meeting his eyes with that same old determined look. 

“And what if that isn’t enough?” Lance asked crossing his arms. Keith bites his lip and Lance curses himself for briefly thinking about how cute it is. 

“Lance, do you know what I am?” 

“Some kind of fox myth? What does that—?”

“I’m a kumiho,” Keith sighs, though he clearly has great pride in his Lore. “Meaning I can take care of any enemies and in certain circumstances grant abilities to you. Whatever you want, it’s yours. I’ll be an obedient servant to you and you alone so long as my brother is saved.” Keith’s word come across genuine, but monotone. He meant each word but it sounded almost rehearsed. Almost as if he knew it had to be said this very moment or Lance would turn him away. “Is that good enough for you?”

Lance gulped slightly, trying to calm himself. Lance forced a smug look into his eyes and on his lips, “Sounds good to me, then it’s a deal. We’ll get your brother then we’ll discuss your terms of service.”

“Whatever you wish,” Keith says standing up, dusting himself off. He hops off the fence, keeping his back to Lance. “Let’s get to bed, it’ll be quite a journey, Son of Roscadia.” Lance turns a slight shade of pale as realization dawns on him that Keith just addressed him with his title. Lance watches him walk back, gulping.

“Um, yeah.” The boy looked up to the moon, biting his lip and said a little prayer.

“Mother, I know you said I was destined for a great fate… Is this what you had in mind? To be escort to a Dead Myth and help him find his brother? Whatever it is, Mother, give me your strength to handle this quest and let it be over soon.”


End file.
